There Will Be Blood
by czarinstark
Summary: There was once a student, who above all else, was a true shinobi; one who would sacrifice herself for the sake of the people. She had the mysterious past of being raised by civilians of the village. Years later, she becomes one of the greatest ninja to come out of the Academy. She was Rikiishi Takami, the Speed Demon of the Leaf. What could her mysterious past be hiding?
1. Prologue: Childhood Sweethearts

**There Will Be Blood**

_Naruto_

Prologue

Childhood Sweethearts

* * *

It was on a cool day that my wife made pancakes for the kids. Before sitting down next to me, she had placed the plates in front of each of us so we could enjoy our homemade breakfast. It was only on this day that we had homemade pancakes. It was a special day that neither of my children knew about, but somehow I knew I would be telling that story soon. My son, Haruka, was getting close to the age that made this special day real, not a fantasy that I never thought would come.

"Father, is it all right if I went to see my friend today?" Haruka suddenly asked looking up from his plate of pancakes. It was then that I suddenly found myself staring into cold eyes that were identical to mine, except I could see the warmth that was instilled in their hearts. That light, which my wife put into our children, was what caught my attention at the very beginning.

My wife gave me a knowing look before placing her fork down, propping her head up with her left hand while the other snuck to grab my hand.

"And who is this friend, Haruka?" My wife asked my son knowingly with a tone that made me shiver, but I wove our fingers together with a smirk. I could see how much she wanted to tease him; she had done the same to me when I told her what happened before I met with her that day. I could see that her question made a red warmth appear on my son's face, which sent me back to my memories where I was in the same seat as he was now with the same red blush.

"Mother, she is just a friend."

"Don't tease our son." I told my wife trying to reprimand her, but the warm smile that lite up her face made me incapable of it.

"Yes, Haruka. You may go see her." I continued looking at my son, tightening my grip on my wife's hand, running my thumb along the back of her hand. Before he could stand up, I put a hand on his head.

"You don't have to ask to go see her." I told him with a light smile, and he nodded before running out of the room.

"I thought you were going to tell him the story, Sasuke." My wife commented looking over her shoulder, watching our son quickly sliding on his sandals. "Haruka, there is a basket by the door for you and your friend."

"Thank you, Mother!" He called back. "I love you! I will be home later."

I looked down at my wife and saw tears forming in her eyes. I couldn't stop the smile from crawling over my lips.

"Oh," She used her left hand to wipe her tears. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry." I couldn't hold myself back from laying my hand on her cheek running my thumb along her face to wipe away the tears that escaped. I already know why she was crying. It was a fear she brought up in the beginning of our marriage. Something that was inevitable. She laid her hand on my shoulder. "Now, what is making you cry?"

"Soon, they won't be our little babies anymore. They will be ninja." She whispered sadly. Her tears dried as if my warm action blew the cold away. Silently, I could hear the words that she couldn't say in my own brain.

"No matter how they age, they will always be our babies," I whispered kissing her forehead softly, smiling when I heard the soft, muffled giggle of our daughter, Rama, who still had not moved away from the table.

"Rama, why don't you go play with your toys?" I spoke looking at our daughter, whose cold but warm eyes watched innocently, before she nodded and stood.

"Daddy," Rama spoke up looking at me. I turned my head to give her my attention while my hand still held my wife's cheek.

"They are wrong about you, Daddy. They call you mean, cruel, and a traitor, but they are wrong. I never believed them, daddy." She continued quickly wiping away the tears that formed in her eyes as I looked down. She quickly ran out of the room after she spoke. We could hear sniffles coming from the hall.

My wife moved her hand from my shoulder to my cheek, lightly running her thumb along my cheek. Her words to us only made me realize that our family was accepted not because of my family name, but because of my wife's. She came from an extinct clan, like mine, but hers had been an ally of the Senju in the Warring States Era. She would always be welcomed. However, I would never be accepted despite what Naruto tried. I was seen as a traitor first, and then a hero that fought for the Leaf Village in the Fourth Great Ninja War. I came back for the girl, who I would eventually call my wife, when I heard of her heroic effort to stall the Ten-tailed beast.

It was hours later as we were sitting in the living room watching Rama play with her toys when Haruka came through the door red-faced and a large grin on his face. I looked at him with a knowing smile, knowing that I looked like that when I came home after the event that made this day special to both myself and my wife.

"I think now would be a good time to tell that story." I spoke making my wife and children look at me. I moved off the couch and sat on the floor in front of my wife, leaning back to rest against the furniture, positioning myself between my wife's legs, feeling the inside of her legs brush my arms. Soon enough I felt her fingers combing through my hair as I beckoned our four-year old daughter to sit in my lap and waved my son over. As Rama crawled into my lap with her stuffed teddy bear, Haruka sat in front of me, playing with his fingers. I smirked laying my hand on his head while the other laid on Rama's back to make sure she didn't fall backwards as she sat on my leg. It was when everyone was settled that I began to tell the story of the day I 'proposed' to my wife.

_It was a beautiful day in the Leaf Village. The cool breeze made the leaves of the tallest trees dance. Not a cloud swam in the vast, open sky. It was breakfast for many of the families in the village, but one sat in the comfort of their home enjoying their meal as a family as a woman prepared the food to make for the meal. Pancakes were my favorite thing to have for the start of the day. A game of hide-and-seek danced in my mind. It was never a question as to with whom; a young girl living in the heart of the village had always been my playmate. Even as I thought of her, a light blush warmed my cheeks. It was no surprise when a feminine chuckle was heard in the dining area, which made the warmth on my cheeks brighten with embarrassment. It was a few minutes later that I found myself running out of the door, trying not to fall as I pulled on my shoes. My stomach full of pancakes._

_A young girl who had dark hair and deep blue eyes sat with her family at their dining table, speaking excitedly about what she was going to do that day, when a sudden light knock on the front door made her silent. She suddenly gasped as a large smile crawled over her lips. She could feel the warmth envelope in her chest as she thought of who could be at the door. Her friend. Her playmate. She practically bounced in her seat as her father rose to answer whomever was knocking, and not a second later, I stood in the doorway beaming down at my friend. She quickly stood up as her father knelt to kiss her forehead before she bounced out the door grabbing my hand along the way. Before we knew it, we already knew where we were going. Another silent agreement between us._

_ "__So what are we going to do today?" She asked when we reached our paradise._

_I had this planned and I wasn't about the screw it up, no matter how nervous I was. "Close your eyes."_

_She nodded and closed her eyes, covering them with her hands to satisfy me because I thought she cheated. When I was satisfied that she couldn't see me, I ran off to find the best hiding place. After I found it, I settled there before yelling out to her that I was ready. I was surprised my plan was going so well, and couldn't stop myself from playing with my fingers nervously. After about ten minutes, I heard the crunch of leaves behind me and tightened my fists preparing myself for what I was going to do._

_ "__I see your feet," My friend giggled before pushing the leaves aside and beaming down at me. My plan failed, and I couldn't stop the disappointment from crawling on my face. I hated that she was so good at this game. "If you are so disappointment, I can just forget I saw you." If only it was that easy._

"Of course mommy was good at hide-and-go seek! She finds me all the time!" Rama piped up excitedly looking up at her mother with a wide, happy grin. My wife ran her hand through Rama's hair softly before returning it to my head. I could barely stop the shiver of pleasure from encompassing my body.

I coughed lightly to clear my throat, trying to not show my embarrassment of my slip-up, "Rama, may I continue?"

Rama immediately calmed down, looking down with a pout at not being able to speak, though I could tell she was excited to hear the rest of the story. Haruka, however, sat in his placement, leaning forward in interest.

_I gulped, going to plan B was harder than it looked like. I leaned up, closing my eyes, ready to kiss her like I saw my parents do. I didn't think anything was wrong with it. They loved each other, and I loved my friend. It was only appropriate, I had thought. However, that plan also failed when I fell out of the bush not realizing that my friend had turned around after she noted how disappointed I was. She laughed as she watched me get up with a scowl on my face._

_As I stood up and brushed the dirt off me, I felt a tight grip surround my hand and squeezed back. Together we walked to the middle of our paradise. A place we only knew, and I hoped it would stay that way. It was a meadow of tall grass that danced with the wind and was surrounded by trees that kept the small paradise hidden from the rest of the world, except for us. The meadow was calm and peaceful. No chaos hit that meadow even when the Nine-Tailed Fox came to the village. It was like a protective dome surrounded our safe haven. She released my hand and ran into the small meadow, sitting down once she got there. I quickly ran to sit behind her like I always did, settling my legs on either side of her body, watching her play with blades of grass over her shoulder. I could see her dark blue eyes looking into the sky, and felt warmth fill my gut._

_Finally as the sun began to set and the sky became orange on the horizon, I willed myself to speak._

_ "__When we get older, I am going to marry you."_

_I saw that she looked at me in surprise, but I could only keep my gaze on the horizon afraid that I was going to screw up plan C. I heard her giggle before a soft kiss was planted on my cheek; one kiss I had seen my mother give my father. I quickly looked at her feeling my face go red as I gazed at her similar blushing face._

_ "__I want to marry you too." I heard her say. Nothing could make the feeling of pure happiness that I felt disappear._

_I raised my hand sticking out my pinky in front of her, immediately grabbed her attention. She looked up at me confused, before I saw understanding appear in her eyes. I felt like I could stare into her eyes forever. The deep vast blue that reminded me so much of the ocean. The dark depths of the ocean was endless. I could see the endlessness of her eyes every time I stare into them. I could stare at her forever and never be tired of this beauty. I wondered if this is what love was like._

_ "__Pinky promise," I finally let out in a whisper as the setting shine casted a glow to her face. Her young face that I knew would only get more beautiful when she grew._

_As a beautiful smile crawled over her lips, her pinky hooked around mine. "Promise."_

As I ended our memory, I noted the sparkle in my daughter's eyes and the awe on my son's face. My parents didn't have a moment like this with me when I was a child so what ever happened next was a surprise to me, as it was every year.

"Do you think Noriko and I will turn out like that?" Haruka asked blinkingly, still in awe by my story.

My wife and I shared a look of surprise. Haruka was spending time with _his _daughter. Suddenly, out of nowhere, my wife giggled merrily and beckoned our son to approach her. I watched as Haruka stood up to walk toward his mother with a look of confusion. I felt my wife's fingers leave my hair, making me almost sigh in disappointment only to see her kiss our son's forehead. When she moved away, she moved her hand to thread her fingers through his hair.

Despite my shock at her action, she spoke, "If you are just like your Father . . . . "

Somehow I knew what was coming next and tried to hold in my look of misery. If my son and _his _daughter married. . . Even the thought made me growl. I wondered if he felt the same as I. After a second of thinking, I could guarantee that he would feel the same as I. These next few years were going to be _joyful_ for the both of us.

"Definitely," My wife finished with a heavenly, almost glowing smile which reminded me that I married the most beautiful woman in the world. I felt all of the misery of my son's choice melt away, just like my hatred did as I stared at her beautiful smile that seemed to be a grace from God.


	2. Prologue 2: A Rivalry is Born, Part One

**There Will Be Blood**

_Naruto_

Prologue

A Rivalry is Born, Part One

* * *

Rikiishi Takami, fourth student of Hatake Kakashi and fourth teammate of Team 7, stared at the Hokage with narrowed eyes. Why was he here, she wondered. And then the inevitable was brought up. They had to host a preliminary exam because there were too many Genin that got through the Forest of Death. Somehow, however, Takami wondered if it wasn't necessarily a good idea for all the Genin to get to the Third Exam, but she also understood the meaning behind this cut in exam. To weed out those who piggy-backed off their stronger teammates to get to where they are now. Until now it had been a team effort, but now each of the Genin would have to fight, showing all of the skills that they had, including the hidden ones. Takami's eyes narrowed with that thought in mind, and she clenched her hands into fists, mentally preparing herself for the future. She already knew what was going to happen. The result was given. Destiny was already playing a role in this game.

"A preliminary exam can be held at any stage to reduce the number of candidates, should there be too many. It is just a precaution that we need to take. There will be many very important people at the Third Exam, and they want to see the best. We cannot waste their time." The instructor said explained trying to calm many of the angry Genin down.

"The preliminaries start immediately so if any of you do not feel that you are at top condition, now is your chance to bow out." He continued.

"Are you serious!?" Kiba yelled in anger before looking back at Takami, who glared at him.

"Will you people stop looking at me?" Takami growled in annoyance. She knew she got beat. She didn't need to be reminded of it.

"But we just finished the last barely surviving. Don't we get a break?" Ino complained, thinking of Takami who she had to watch get her own arm dislocated.

Sasuke suddenly grabbed his shoulder, making Sakura look up sharply at him and Takami look at him from around Sakura's body.

"Sasuke, listen to me. You need to quit." Sakura begged making Sasuke stiffen.

"What are you talking about, Sakura? He looks fine." Takami asked confused by the whole situation.

"Takami, I'm fine." Sasuke assured trying to suppress the pain in his shoulder, not able to look into the deep blue worried eyes of his teammate.

"You have been like this ever sense you fought Orochimaru, and it is getting worse." Sakura spoke moving closer to Sasuke. "It's that mark he put on you, isn't it?"

'Mark?' Takami thought in worry and horror. 'What mark?' What she didn't know was that Sasuke was yelling at Sakura in his mind; he hadn't wanted Takami to know. The only thing Takami remembered of their encounter with Orochimaru was charging in to save Naruto when he got lifted by the snake's tongue, and then getting knocked back into a tree which had immediately made her black out.

"You can't deny it, Sasuke." Sakura continued, gasping as the memories of the curse mark appeared through her mind. The first was when Sasuke received his mark through Orochimaru's bite and the second was the purple chakra that surrounded his black-marked skin after he woke up and saw Takami's twitching body on the ground.

"Please, Sasuke, you need to quit. Before… I don't know." Sakura begged as her eyes welled up in tears. Takami looked away, suddenly angered by how kept in the dark she was, despite the fact that she was doing the same to her teammates. However, she argued, the situations were entirely different. Her skills versus a teammate's health. Yep, two totally different things.

"You know as well as I do that you can't keep fighting." Sakura continued to beg.

"You know you are making a scene, right?"

Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto turned around to look at Takami, who was glaring at all of them in annoyance and above else, betrayal. Sasuke drew back, making him look away almost guilty as he closed his eyes.

"I _thought_ it was supposed to be some well-kept _secret. _One you couldn't even tell your own _teammates_ and your _friends_, but now you are saying it so loud that everyone can hear you." Takami sneered glaring at Sakura and Sasuke. Sakura looked away. "Hnn, here I thought we were a team. So much for that, right? All you care about is yourself."

"Hey!" Naruto shouted.

"Shut up, Naruto! You can include yourself in the betrayal!" Takami shot up at him making him draw back.

_A flash of orange and black crossed her vision before Takami felt arms wrap around her. She could see the bottom of the forest floor and gulped suddenly terrified of falling. A comforting growl made her look up and suddenly became entranced by the red eyes with black slit pupils. A twinge of fear formed up inside her at the animalistic urge of bloodlust that dwelled in his eyes, and she felt her body begin to shake._

_ 'Naruto.'_

"I am not going to speak of it in front of the Jonin instructors, the Hokage, and our friends but let me say this." She continued, remembering those red eyes, trying to stop the sadness from creeping up. The tears of anger and betrayal, however, were ones she couldn't stop. "I will found out what all of you are _hiding_. I don't care what I have to do."

The rest of her team suddenly looked at her in shock as the last of her speech was directed to the ground where they could see drops of water fall. Sasuke looked away not able to watch, knowing that if he watched her cry he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

"I can't let you do this to yourself, Sasuke. I am going to tell them about that mark." Sakura said suddenly, moving to raise her hand but was halted as Yakushi Kabuto raised his.

Kabuto Yakushi had given up stating that his ear was injured more than he originally said, making Takami angry at that claim. There was nothing that she hated more than a person who was weak, physically and mentally. It was one of her many flaws that she couldn't hide.

Sakura suddenly remembered that she need to raise her hand for Sasuke's sake, but was immediately halted when Sasuke grabbed her wrist harshly.

"Don't you even thinking about telling them about this mark." Sasuke warned.

"What are you trying to prove?" Sakura asked desperately. She wanted him to quit so badly, and she didn't understand why he wouldn't. He was in no condition to fight. "Am I supposed to stand by and watch you tear yourself apart? I don't think I can bear that."

"Then don't, but stay out of it." Sasuke stated making Sakura gasp. "This has nothing to do with you. " With that said, he let go of her wrist, trying to make himself face the one person who need to hear his words.

"I told you before I am an avenger. To me, this is more than an exam. I don't care if I make it to Chunin or not. I just want the answer to one question: Am I strong? And I need to find that out by fighting the best, the strongest. They are all here. No one can change that; not even you." Sasuke continued.

"Then what?" Takami growled, her voice laced with anger. "What about after you have your revenge? Is that all you really live for or am I missing some huge secret you have?!"

"Takami," Sasuke tried with the same tone as Sakura.

"No! You are listening, not yapping your mouth!" Takami raged in a hushed voice. "What happens after you have your revenge, huh? You can't live just for that! There are people here who care about you!"

'And _me_,' She yelled in her head unable to keep the thought out no matter how much she tried.

"Takami," Sasuke finally had enough of her words and grabbed her by her uninjured shoulder moving around Sakura to do so. Sakura watched helpless as the love of her life directed himself at someone else. She wasn't blind. She could see it even when they were children, and it hurt so much. It hurt to know what Sasuke and Takami had been childhood friends, maybe even sweethearts –if rumors were correct-, and now those feelings appeared to be returning. She felt the familiar pain of her breaking heart and tried to hide it as best as she could.

"I want to fight you as well." Sasuke finished with a smirk, and then secretly wrapping his pinky around hers, giving her a small smile that only she saw. Takami felt her eyes widened at her action, but immediately understood what he was attempting to show. She felt happiness overwhelm her as she realized that he was hinting at their promise.

"Sasuke," Takami muttered softly before she placed a hand on his shoulder as well with a scoff, playing it off like they were challenging each other like he intended. "You better be ready for a war then because I am not going down so easily. Especially to someone like you."

"And Naruto," Sasuke smirked at her before turning around to his male teammate. "I want to fight you too."

Unable to convince Sasuke, Sakura quickly looked at Takami, whom had her left arm cradled to her chest. She could see the determination brewing in her deep blue eyes and almost let out a shiver from how numb she seemed. She has been this way ever sense . . . Sakura gulped beating down the memory of her teammate being a punching bag. Her eyes trailed down her teammate's arm unable to keep quiet any longer as she saw the worried eyes that Ino's team and Rock Lee's team sent to her injured teammate.

"Your shoulder –"

Takami cut her off. "I just have to set it back. It doesn't even hurt anymore."

Sakura winced as her eyes trailed up her teammate's arm to settle on her dislocated shoulder. Tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered how her teammate had gotten that injury and couldn't not stop the shiver from escaping. She couldn't stop the quiet whimper that escaped her lips as the memory ran through her mind like a movie.

_As if in slow motion, Zaku pressed his foot into Takami's back, pulling her arm backwards, grinning as he heard the kunoichi wince. Takami tried as hard as she could to keep her winces and whimpers quiet. There was no point in giving this guy the satisfaction. Sakura watched numb with fear as Zaku pressed with more force, making Takami. One more press down with his foot made a sickening crack sound off over the battlefield and a scream of excruciating pain escape from the usually calm kunoichi as she dropped to the ground. Everything was in slow motion. Every movement, every break, and every fall._

_ Even the rest of Lee's team, who had just appeared, were too shocked to move as they watched Takami fall to the ground, screaming in pain if any part of her body moved. Sakura could see the long-haired, cleared eyed boy stiffen as he watched with wide eyes as Takami's body writher on the dirt as her scream finally died down to a sob that Sakura would have nightmares about. The sob and whimper of a broken kunoichi that needed help. A desperate, scared kunoichi. The thoughts broke Sakura out of her stupor._

_ "Takami!" Sakura screamed out, hoping her teammate would react in any way. However, Sakura only saw Takami's twitching body. Sakura's eyes welled up in tears as she quickly assumed the worst and couldn't stop the sob from leaving her throat. "Takami!"_

"Please quit, Takami." Sakura tried once more, hoping that her teammate would at least consider it. She didn't know if she could watch Takami get beaten again. The usually calm and methodical kunoichi was someone that Sakura didn't think could ever be beaten down, until that day. The day that Sakura finally made a name for herself and 'blossomed' as Ino said. When the thought of Ino finally appeared, Sakura made a brief glance only to see her watching Takami in worry. Sakura was surprised that she hadn't noticed it before. Many of the ninja who had seen Takami afterward or at the moment of her injury were watching her as if she was going to fall down within the next second. Sakura really couldn't blame them, she thought the same. She desperately wanted Takami and Sasuke to quit. She was afraid that she going to watch her teammate get beat down again, and the memory of the first time would haunt her as it was.

"No," Takami declared making Sakura's eyes fill up with tears. She had tried and failed. She knew she was going to have to watch Takami's battle now. "I will not back down like a terrified child."

"Hey, she is just trying to help!" Naruto's voice rang out in annoyance.

"Everyone is, Naruto, but no matter what any of you try I am not quitting."

"Shut up," Sasuke immediately cut in making Takami look at him in surprise. "She will be fine. She can go to the hospital after her fight."

What he didn't say was that he hoped her fight was first so she could be carted away. Everyone had a reason to be worried. Takami looked like she got run over by an elephant. She had a dislocated shoulder, a limp on her left leg, a bruise in the form of a hand around her neck from when Zaku had slammed her into the ground, and a right black eye. It was obvious that she had just gone through a battle or if that didn't cross someone's mind, fallen out of a tree, which was highly impossible due to her being a kunoichi.

"Thank you Sasuke," Takami spoke looking gratefully at her teammate, whom hummed in response.

Ignoring his teammates, Sasuke looked forward at the Jonin to see them looking at Takami before whispering to themselves. 'They want her to withdraw too.' Sasuke thought annoyed as his fists clenched tightly. He quietly huffed. 'She will not give up. She is too stubborn.'

"Now, if no one else will withdraw." The instructor began as he looked around for another hand and when there was none, he continued. "We will begin the exam."

He briefly explained how the process would work. There was a board that would randomly list two names, and those students would battle for the spot to continue.

'This seems easy,' Takami thought looking down at her dislocated shoulder. 'I will have to deal with this problem later.'

"Now let us begin."

The board quickly went through names as if trying to find the best match. All eyes were focused on it, except for one. Takami moved her deep blue eyes to the instructor, placing a hand on her shoulder ready to push it back into place when the precise moment came. She waited for the gasp of horror to envelope the preliminary room, and she didn't have to wait long. A few people looked at her in worry. Inuzuka Kiba's white dog, otherwise known as Akamaru, whimpered in sadness and fear as two names appeared on the screen; one he recognized right away. A cry of panic escaped Sakura as she looked at Takami, who made her way to the front of the crowd in a slow, calculated pace. Eyes from all over were training on Takami's form, showing worry, wonder, excitement, and thoughtfulness. Many wondered an innocent question.

How was Takami going to battle this ferocious looking opponent from the Rain Village with a dislocated shoulder and a limp?

_Rikiishi Takami_

_Vs._

_Sato Kosuke_

"Now, will everyone else please go to the balcony so we can begin the first preliminary battle?" The instructor asked, causing the Genin to break their lines and head up to the balcony alongside their Jonin teachers, except for one, who approached his student.

"Takami, are you sure you are fit enough to do this?" Hatake Kakashi asked lying a hand on her uninjured shoulder, casting her a look of worry, learning from Mitarashi Anko what Takami had done in the Forest of Death for her teammates. He couldn't have been more proud than he was of his student.

Takami nodded in reply with a mischievous sparkle in her eye, which made Kakashi nearly lean back in shock, but was able to keep it controlled, settling for a look of confusion.

"I am all right, Kakashi-sensei." Takami spoke looking to the side at the opponent, letting out a small, unnoticeable smirk when she saw that he was sizing her up.

'Perfectly all right.' She thought satisfied. She couldn't deny her excitement at being able to show how much of a threat she was. Everything was planned, ever sense she joined the academy. She planned two steps ahead, taking in the consequences and successes of each situation. She played her part bravely and strategically, pretending that she was a weakling, and now it was her moment to show how wrong they were and her game in this world. It was time to show how she had deceived most of the world, except for the one that trained her to become who she was: Might Guy.

She had great reasoning for doing what she did, but now wasn't the time to explain it. Now was the time to show the result.

Kakashi gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder before leaving to join the rest of Team 7 up on the balcony. Takami watched him, hoping that the battle coming wouldn't hurt them too much, and looked down sadly. With her trait that no one had or knew of, she already saw in her dreams what was going to happen.

"Are you ready?"

She turned around to see Sato Kosuke standing beside the instructor with his arms crossed and impatience growing. Takami nodded before turning around to face her opponent, cradling her arm and tried to suppress the limp she had gotten when Zaku kicked her knee in from the back. She stood in front of him, facing Kosuke with a look of determination.

"Are you both ready for the match?" The instructor asked looking between them.

"You ready to get beat, runt?" Kosuke asked with a large smirk. He had already made up his mind that this kid wasn't going to be much. With so many bruises and injuries, this was going to be such an easy battle.

Takami noted that he was large, nearly two of her in height. In body type, he was muscular and brawn. She wondered about his intelligence, remembering the phrase 'more brawn than brains' and keeping it close to heart.

Takami smirked back, "One second. There is something that I have to do." And then with all the might that she could muster, she used her right hand to push her left arm back into the socket, making a loud pop carry over the room. Gasps erupted from the mouths of many of the Genin standing on the balcony. She moved her left arm's fingers and then touched her shoulder, wincing lightly when she felt her muscles tense. A small smirked crawled over her lips when she saw the interest in Kosuke's eyes. "One thing you will notice about me is that I am stubborn. I am not going to back out of a fight because of an arm or a leg. You see?"

Kosuke's eyes twitched at her over-confident tone, "We will see, runt."

"If the both of you are ready, we will." The instructor spoke looking between them once more just in case.

The Genin who knew Takami on a personal level held their breath, not knowing how to take this or what to do. It worried them that Takami was doing this. They couldn't believe that she didn't quit, but it was true; she was very stubborn. She had to be the most stubborn person that they had all met, and that flaw worried them greatly. More of anything, they couldn't believe she was able to pop her own shoulder into place.

'Don't do something stupid, Takami.' Shikamaru thought looking at his friend in concern. He didn't like the look of her opponent, who looked like he wanted to squish Takami like a bug under his shoe.

"So what do you think of this matchup?" Choji asked just as worried as Shikamaru was.

"I don't know, Choji. Takami is a genius and unpredictable. No one has truly seen what she is capable of, not even me or you, probably not even her team. She has always been distant like that." Shikamaru explained, grabbing the attention of the other Genin.

"What do you mean? She has shown us everything!" Naruto shouted throwing his arms out.

Sasuke was puzzled, until a sudden look of horror appeared on his face. "Naruto, remember the time you fell out of that tree when we had to clean the river for that mission."

"What of it," Naruto asked confused.

"She hesitated like she had to think of a better way." Sasuke stated looking at Takami, not able to hide his wonder.

Sakura gasped, 'That explains why she got beat down.'

"She let it all happen. She planned for all of this to happen." Sakura let out.

"What?" Naruto shouted in confusion looking down at his teammate on the battleground.

"Your team likes to talk, don't they?" Kosuke stated in an offending tone.

"You have no idea." Takami replied in a deadpan, not reacting to the shout of anger from the balcony that she knew was from Naruto.

"Begin!" The instructor shouted before jumping back. Immediately afterwards, the action began.

"Let's give them a good fight, runt." Kosuke growled launching himself at Takami with nearly invisible speed, making her slid her foot back behind her quickly pulling out her kunai to block the attack from the left and then the right with a second kunai. The two engaged in a battle of strengths pushing at each other while trying to target weak areas, practically dancing around each other at speeds that only Gai, Kakashi, and Rock Lee could see. The only physical thing they saw, more than a few seconds, was a black short kimono that slowly fluttered to the ground, even living through being sliced a few things.

"Wow!" Sakura gasped amazed by how fast they were moving. She could only see them once in a while. They watched as two kunai were thrown and then stuck to the wall before a glint of a blade was seen and Kosuke was launched back, his feet sliding along the ground trying to regain his balance, his umbrella in front of him in guarding position as he panted.

"The runt wasn't kidding," Kosuke panted looking around slowly before hearing a slight shift of the air, immediately throwing up his umbrella to guard against an air attack. Time almost froze. The majority of the Genins' eyes followed the length of the forms on the battlefield. Frozen in the air was someone they had believed to be soft-hearted and kind, but instead before their eyes, the eyes of an emotionless, close-minded ninja struck them like a cold dagger. The silver, shining blade of the katana held by an unpredictable hand made Kosuke snarl before he threw her off of him, making her feet slide along the concrete ground.

"What happened to her!?" Naruto gasped not able to hide his thoughts. What truly happened to her, many questioned, or was she always like this. **This**deadly appearance seemed so _natural _with her. So natural it was terrifying to those who were considered her best friends. Many were almost shaken by the powerful, knee-shaking aura that surrounded their friend.

Two of the Sand Village siblings had been confused by their brother's interest in the Leaf Village kunoichi, and how she was able to look him in the eyes without showing fear. Now they understood. The knee-shaking pressure they felt when they had first met Team Seven was from Rikiishi Takami not from the Uchiha like they had thought.

Everyone finally saw Takami's battle garb, what she hid underneath the short black kimono. Her hair had fallen out of the ponytail that she tied it in, making her now rustled up dark brown hair frame her face. Beneath the short black kimono, she wore a deep blue t-shirt with black forearm armor that extended over the back of her hand. She wore black trousers, much like the ones Tenten wore on a daily basis, with black shin armor over her lower legs. Black bandages covered her toes and black fingerless gloves covered her hands. One of her hands touched the ground lightly while her other moved to position her short sword horizontally along her back, gripping the pendent wrapped around the area between the guard and the blade. The blade was silver and sharp while the guard was black, like pure darkness. The pendent, however, was a light blue with the image of a black Leaf Village sign.

Sakura easily found her teammate's black kimono lying in the corner of the stadium. Takami bent her knees slightly, ready to launch herself once more, but was shocked when Kosuke did instead. She moved her body smoothly to block his attack from the right, moving with an arch of her blade from the left.

"What is this!? She doesn't even look tired!" Naruto yelled suddenly angry that he didn't know this before or that she didn't tell him, which one he didn't know. He just knew what he was angry. Where did this power come from, he thought.

If it continued like this, she was a threat to his dream!

Kakashi saw the smugness crawl over Guy's lips and settled a glare at his friend, "Do you know anything about this?"

Guy was easily broken from his smugness, "Of course I do."

Guy's students couldn't help but look at him in confusion. He was always training them. When did he have the time to train Kakashi's student? Shouldn't Kakashi be training his own student? In Hyuga Neji's mind, it did not make sense. Takami was assigned to Kakashi's team, shouldn't she be trained by Kakashi instead of Guy? He narrowed his eyes on his friend on the battlefield, promising himself that he was going to get answers.

"Guy," Kakashi warned.

A shout of disbelief broke Kakashi from his glaring battle only to see Takami fly across the battle ground only to catch herself on the wall, shooting away instantly before thousands of senbon needles stuck into the wall. The next time the Genin and Jonin saw her was when she was in the air in an upside down position with the top of her head closest to the ground facing the senbon-shooting umbrella, hands rapidly moving in hand seals. Kakashi's eyes widened as he quickly recognized the technique.

'Who is she?' Kakashi asked.

Takami completed the seals and looked awfully smug, "Water Release: Water Severing Technique!" She then sucked in air only to shoot out a small, narrow beam of water from her mouth, targeting it toward the umbrella that was in the air. Once the water successfully shot through the umbrella, it began to fall to the ground, unable to stay in the air due to the hole.

Kosuke jumped into the air to retrieve his umbrella before once again landing on the ground while Takami quickly positioned herself to fall down towards him, trying to land a hit on him from the air.

"What did you teach her, Guy?" Kakashi asked once more wanting answers. Guy couldn't only watch the battle in shock planted on his face in the form of widened eyes and a slightly drop jaw.

"What?" Naruto asked trying to pay attention to the battle and to the discussion.

"What makes the jutsu so important, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked wondering what was wrong. It was an amazing jutsu. She didn't see anything wrong with it.

"That is a high level jutsu that was used by the Second Hokage, Sakura" Kakashi explained before looking down at his student in the battle. Only glimpses of her sword was seen now. Who was she? Maybe the rumors were right after all. 'How on earth did she learn that?'

"Huh?" Naruto asked confused.

"You may not be aware, Naruto, but there are rumors in the Leaf Village pertaining to Takami and her lineage." Kakashi explained once more, only keeping his eyes on his student.

"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei? I thought Kotaro-sensei and Miss Hayasa were her parents." Sakura spoke just as confused as the other Genin.

"There are skills that Takami has that contradicts that. One rumor is looking truer than the rest." Kakashi spoke before getting consumed in the battle, trying to pinpoint anything.

"One rumor is that she is the granddaughter of the Second Hokage. Another is that she belongs to an extinct clan that died out hundreds of years ago after the reign of the First and Second Hokage. A third that has been heard is that she is from another village, but was taken here as a baby. And the other, " Guy explained before dying out as he snuck a glance at Sasuke, who stared down at the battle consumed with fascination. He never knew about this.

"Why is everyone questioning it though? What is so serious about her skills that leads everyone to question her?" Sakura asked, suddenly unhappy with people questioning Takami's childhood. What right did they have to make rumors? They didn't do it to Naruto; why should they do it to Takami?

That is when Sakura understood something, however. They would never truly know who Takami was. The thought made a stab of pain erupt from Sakura's heart as sadness crept up on her. It explained why Takami was so distant. She didn't know any more than the people that made the rumors did.

"Silent Time Slow Technique." They heard Takami speak and before everyone's eyes Takami disappeared.

"Where did she go?!" Naruto shouted grabbing the railing looking around angrily.

Everyone watched as Kosuke's movement slowed drastically before suddenly Takami appeared once more; her feet slid sideways along the floor as he grabbed his side after blood flew into the air.

"Space-Time Ninjutsu?" Guy asked in shock looking at his friend.

"She has to be related to the Second Hokage. That was his jutsu." He continued.

"But who taught her?" Kakashi asked unable to keep the shock off his face. His eyes widened with confusion and shock at the finding of the water jutsu and space-time ninjutsu that pointed to the rumor of her relation to the Second Hokage.

Takami swiped, removing the blood off her blade. Kosuke looked at her in shock unable to stop his shivers of fear. He never imagined that she would be this powerful, even with her black eye she looking incredibly fierce. She no longer seemed to have that limp that she had before, and suddenly without warning, she launched at him once more not giving him the option to do anything. Kosuke blocked her with his umbrella before a smirk settled on his face after a moment of thinking, trying to regain his bearing. Takami raised an eyebrow before jumping back as Kosuke quickly moved his hand to a tiger hand seal.

"Bringer-of-Darkness Technique," Kosuke whispered before his eyes snapped open. As Takami stumbled and put a hand to her face whispering how she couldn't see anything, a wicked smirk crawled over his lips as he grabbed his umbrella, taking off the top to reveal a katana.

"Takami! Move! What are you doing?" Naruto shouted as Kosuke disappeared.

"I can't see! I can't see!" Takami yelled in horror before shouting in pain as a blade bit into her side, and placed her hand over it feeling fear creep up inside. She felt helpless unable to recognize where he was as another cut was made making her whip around to that side only to have another slice made into her skin, this time directly above her elbow.

"Genjutsu," Guy let out in horror.

"Takami is bad at Genjutsu." Kakashi muttered in horror.

"Takami, break it! It's just a Genjutsu!" Sakura shouted, realizing that her fear was now coming true. None of their words reached Takami as she attempted to dodge as a blade sliced through her skin, wincing each time. Blood dripped down in small drops. She jumped back only for Kosuke to follow with more cuts to her skin, sending blood into the air. Nobody noticed that she never raised her blade to attempt to block the movement, except for a pair of eyes that were known for seeing everything. A pair of pale white eyes narrowed unable to keep his questioning silent in his mind. It seemed to him that he was the only one able to notice the small things, like how it seemed like she was acting/faking the movements that she was doing. He tightened his hand into a fist, and swore that he was going to get his answers; whether she wanted to tell them or not. He couldn't deny his confusion on her mysterious past, nor could he deny his interest to help find it.

Sasuke clenched the railing tightly as his knuckles turned white, practically on the edge of his seat with concern, "Takami! Follow his footsteps!"

Kakashi sent him a quizzical look before a small, soft smile appeared over his lips, knowing Sasuke's voice would be able to break through her fear. Despite their efforts to hide, they were incredibly obvious when it came to their fondness of each other, well except to each other; in other words, everyone knew but them.

And before anyone could unleash another breath of warning, Kosuke's blade was successfully able to slice over Takami's right cheek bone, despite her effort to dodge it by leaning back. Blood dripped from her face as she leaned down holding her face, and she quickly jumped back upon hearing Sasuke's words. She felt her right eye close as the blood ran down her cheek and couldn't stop the groan of pain from escaping her voice box.

Wait, **footsteps**. Listen to the footsteps. If she couldn't see, she needed to listen. She breathed deeply calming herself, waiting and listening. She remembered the footsteps before she was getting sliced. Right before it would happen, a quiet step was heard. She needed to listen for that. She waited for it like a wolf waiting for a vulnerability in its prey.

"Why isn't she breaking the Genjutsu?" Naruto asked now watching worriedly.

Kakashi deadpanned. "I hope what I am thinking is not right."

"She probably doesn't even **know** how to break it." Sakura deadpanned with their sensei, remembering how Takami was 'sick' when they had that lesson. Everyone knew how much Takami hated Genjutsu. She viewed it as a 'quick way out' and of course, she always had to make things complicated.

Suddenly Kosuke's blade sliced at Takami and everyone held their breath, trying to hold in their cries, but were completely shocked as Takami's silver blade immediately blocked it. Naruto let out a loud whoop in excitement. Takami grabbed a kunai with her other hand quickly and sliced at Kosuke's shoulder, making him cry out and jump back staring at the blinded girl in shock.

"This is incredible," Tenten suddenly piped up in complete amazement. Every one held their breath at the amazing battle, unable to move their eyes away anymore. Takami was blinded by a genjutsu and still fighting. Her blind, glazed over eyes stared in Kosuke's direction, waiting for his footsteps to sound off.

Until then, she would wait. Patiently.


	3. Prologue 2: A Rivalry is Born, Part Two

Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait! Classes have been taking up almost all of my time, and then bring in the fact that I was stuck on how to finish this amazing battle!

I hope you enjoy the finale of this amazing battle! I had an amazing time editing, reading, and typing this chapter! After this is when the fun of Shippuden starts!

* * *

**There Will Be Blood**

Naruto

Prologue

A Rivalry is Born, Part Two: The Birth of a Demon

* * *

_"My name is Rikiishi Takami. I like to train, and I don't like Genjutsu or any jutsu that I can't understand. My dream is to become Hokage, like my idol, to show everyone that I am unlike anyone but myself. I am just me. I want to show everyone that I am not weak and that I can protect those precious to me." Takami spoke plainly, looking up into the sky, not really paying any attention to the world around her. She moved her arms and laced her fingers behind her head, watching the clouds with a smile._

_ Naruto gave her a look to kill when she pronounced her dream to become Hokage, immediately seeing a rival that he needed to defeat to deter her away from his own dream._

_ "Who is your idol," Kakashi asked leaning forward with interest._

_ "The 4__th__ Hokage," Takami replied looking into Kakashi's widened eye. "He was so young when he became Hokage. I want do the same. I want to become as strong as he was, and I will."_

Naruto's fists clenched. He grinded his teeth together as he heard how in awe the Jonins were with Takami's performance. It felt wrong to feel like this. It felt wrong to be this angry at his own teammate. He felt childish, moody, but most of all jealous. Had she always been this strong or was this recent? If so, how did she become this powerful to begin with? The rumor of her line with the 2nd Hokage would be a great reasoning to accept, but there was more. There had to be.

Sasuke watched his battling teammate almost in awe, unable to tear his eyes away from her. When had she become this strong? When was she going to tell him? When was she going to tell everyone about this? By the reaction Might Guy's team had, they didn't know either that their teacher had been teaching Takami. Why was he training her to begin with?

Shikamaru was pondering that same question. Why would Might Guy be training Takami? There was only one explanation and he nearly groaned in frustration. He thought she had given up on it. He thought she had forgiven them. Apparently, they didn't know her as much as they thought. His sigh made Chouji look at him expectedly.

"Shikamaru," Chouji asked.

"She is an idiot." Shikamaru mumbled.

_Shikamaru and Chouji watched as a young Takami was forcefully pushed to the ground. They had watched this happen for weeks now and every time, the girl never fought back. Even though they ridiculed her for her civilian parents, called her a runt, and said that she shouldn't even be in the Academy. Her skills were slim to none. She got the lowest grades with Uzumaki Naruto, someone everyone avoided, except for that little girl who was ridiculed like he was. This time though, the two boys weren't going to stand by._

_ "Hey leave her alone!" Chouji yelled, running to stand in front of the crying girl with his arms out. The very serious glare adorning his chubby cheeks made a giggle come out of one girl, but the leader immediately pulled her back. Shikamaru noted that they ran away like cowards, and already admired the girl mumbling angrily on the ground as tears flowed down her cheeks. She at least didn't run away._

_ "I will show them. I will show them all. I am not weak. I am not weak." They heard Takami mumble before she let out a hopeless sob. She immediately curled on herself, pushing her red, tear-stained faced into her knee-length black shorts._

"She hasn't given up." Shikamaru muttered almost sorrowful.

"What do you mean," Chouji asked. Neither of them noticed that the Genin and Jonin around them were listening to their somewhat private conversation.

"Remember when she said, 'I am not weak. I am not weak.'?" Shikamaru asked looking down at his friend who was still in a stalemate with her opponent, who looked too fearful to move. He didn't blame him. With an opponent who could seemingly see while she was blind, he would have given up because it was too troublesome.

"How could I forget?" Chouji replied in the form of a rhetorical question, looking back at his blind friend in the battlefield waiting so patiently.

"I believe she is using this precise moment to show the result of her training." Shikamaru continued making Chouji look at him curiously.

"The result of her training?" Naruto whispered from his place beside his instructor before he looked down at Takami once more.

"This boy, nor anyone, will ever understand what she went through." Might Guy suddenly spoke making Kakashi look at him. "All the blame she put on herself. She put herself down while she trained so she could take whatever those girls said to her. She trained all day until she fell asleep at the Training Grounds. That determination is why I took her in as my student. It was fate that she became my student."

"How did you train her, Guy?" Kakashi asked looking at his friend with narrowed eyes.

"You will just have to see, Kakashi. I am not about to spoil my student's surprise." His friend replied with a smirk, crossing his arms.

"Wait a minute," Rock Lee spoke up narrowing his eyes before they suddenly snapped open. "Guy-sensei!"

"You finally remembered her, Lee." Guy chuckled before he pointed his finger down at the battlefield right at Takami.

"Alright, Takami, I give you permission to run towards the finale!" He shouted making Takami crouch down touching her fingers to the floor as if she were on a track.

"Yes!" She shouted back before pausing as she closed her eyes. 'Move my chakra to my fingertips.' She felt her energy move to her fingertips.

"When a person's sight is gone, the other senses take over. In person's who are blind, their hearing and touch becomes their strength. In a deaf person, their vision becomes their strength."

Kakashi suddenly looked at his friend in shock as a common place of darkness entered his mind. The only place in the village were Guy could have trained her to adjust to the dark. "Guy, you didn't train her in Akagahara, did you?"

"Akagahara," Naruto asked looking between the two Jonins. Kakashi almost felt his jaw drop in his surprise, but hoped that he was wrong. He hoped he was very wrong.

"Yes! The perfect place for her to prove herself! The powers of youth blossomed with her that day!" Guy yelled pointing down at her student once more to see a smirk slowly settle over her lips. "Go Takami!"

"Yes Guy-sensei," Takami yelled and before anyone could blink, she shot toward Kosuke who shuffled back in shock.

'How is she doing this?' Kosuke yelled blocking her sword's brutal attacks that would have killed him if he didn't have his sword. He jumped back to try to create some distance, but Takami quickly followed him not letting him breath.

"Wow!" Sakura felt her jaw drop. "How is she doing that?"

"She concentrates chakra to her fingertips to pin-point her opponent. If you watch closely when she jumps, she touches the floor with her fingers to make sure she is going in the right direction."

"Chakra sensing." Kakashi figured looking down at his student. There was no doubt in his mind that she surpassed the person she was trying to defeat, but she had a long way to go to be on the same level as her idol. Suddenly, without warning, she threw a kunai with a symbol attached to it into the wall on the north, directly in Kosuke's direction. As he dodged the kunai, she rapidly began to form hand signs before she disappeared once more just before Kosuke turned back around.

"Where did she - AHHH!" Kosuke shouted out in pain as he felt a sharp, rough kick land in the middle of his back making him fly forward to skid along the ground on his stomach. He groaned in anger clenching his fist tightly. "How dare this little shrimp humiliate me?"

He heard soft, running footsteps behind him and quickly formed a plan that sent a smirk over his face. If she wanted to play this game of strengths, he would surely follow. He always liked to play games, especially ones that he won. He quickly turned on his stomach and lunged at her with a furious yell.

"Wait - " Shikamaru yelled out but was quickly halted as horror grew over his face. Kosuke wrapped his arm around her body, not giving Takami any escape routes. Takami's usually emotionless face morphed into panic.

**"TAKAMI!"**

Kosuke slammed Takami into the ground, making her cry out in pain as her tender shoulder slammed into the hard ground. "No more games."

And then the horror that Sakura feared began as Takami was picked back up and slammed into the ground, continuously as if just once wasn't enough. As each slam went on, Takami tried as much as she could to keep the back of her head from cracking against the ground.

"Takami! Get out of there!" Sakura yelled as each crack, not knowing if it was bone or something else, sounded off throughout the battlefield. "Please stop!"

"Your little friend is calling you, Takami." Kosuke sneered with a joking tone as he held her against the ground, rubbing his cheek against the side of her face with a sickening smirk. Takami felt so lightheaded she barely felt the slams anymore, and could only groan.

"How about this? When I am done with you, I will go after her." He continued wanting a reaction out of the girl he just slammed into the ground, looking at Sakura with a handsome smirk. Naruto stepped in front of Sakura almost growling as Kosuke sent a kiss toward his crush.

"How about you take this instead?" Takami mumbled making Kosuke look back at her before he yelled out in surprise as she delivered a two-footed kick to his chest sending him into a standing position. Without missing a step, Takami wrapped her arm around his neck from the front and slammed him into the floor on his stomach once more while she landed on her back. She quickly stood up only to trip over his arm and land on her stomach. He quickly got on top of her wrapping an arm around her torso and picked her up only to slam her into the ground again. He stood up grinning as Takami winced, holding her side in pain. Suddenly without a second word, he prepared to jump holding an elbow up.

"**Takami**!" She heard someone scream.

Takami quickly shot to her feet, wrapping her arm around his torso while he was in mid-air using the momentum of the jump to her feet to slam him harshly into the concrete letting a battle cry escape her throat as adrenaline took over. A sharp spurt of pain erupted in Kosuke's spine as his spine hit the ground. He gaped like a fish, not able to believe that someone as small as her could slam him in the ground. While he gaped, Takami quickly gained her breath. She had to figure out a way to win this and quickly. She was getting so tired. She didn't understand what was happening to her, and placed a hand on her head as she felt lightheaded. Her glazed eyes rapidly moved from the left to the right.

_What is happening?_

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, 'Takami?'

He wasn't the only one who found her actions troubling. There was no blood trailing down the back of her head, so why did she look so fatigued? It couldn't be from tiredness; Takami was known for having the best stamina and endurance out of the entire team, possibly even throughout the Genin 10.

A hand tightening around her arm broke her from her thoughts. Before she could shout in surprise, her body was thrown against the wall making her yelp as she felt pain erupt throughout her spine. She knew she was going to have a bruise there later. Her eyes widened as she jumped to the side throwing her arm out, narrowly missing the strong fist that was directed at her head. She panted lightly looking in the supposed direction of the large brute. Her eyes were still crazily moving throughout her socket, and covered her eyes trying to make them to stop.

* * *

Sakura unleashed a cry of worry as she watched her blinded teammate being thrown around the arena not fighting back. Tears welled up in her eyes at every yelp or shout of pain from that teammate, but couldn't deny the few that escaped. Naruto gripped the railing until his knuckles were white. He couldn't believe she wasn't fighting back, and even more that her opponent was only playing around with her. Sasuke, however, was analytical. He was sure that Kosuke was figuring out that Takami was weakening. He could only hope that whatever Takami was going to do was going to succeed. Kakashi's eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out Takami's plan, if she had one. She was in the advantage, but now she was at the disadvantage again. Why was she going back and forth? It was like she was playing Kosuke. That missing piece entered the puzzle of this match. He looked at Guy, wondering if this 'playing' was part of their secret, but only saw Guy rub his chin in thought.

"What is it, Guy?"

"Something isn't right, Kakashi." Guy let out watching his student getting beat.

"What do you mean?"

"I have no idea what she is doing."

Kakashi looked at Guy in thought. "What are you talking about?"

A heartbreaking crack sounded over the battlefield as Takami was continuously slammed into the concrete floor, making a cradle of rock surrounded her body. This time she wasn't getting up. She could barely move. She saw white flickers of lights overwhelm her blackened sight, but couldn't bring herself to smirk in satisfaction. Pain overwhelmed every limb she had. How much more would she be able to take before she collapsed? None of this was shown in her dreams. She didn't understand what was happening. She was afraid; terrified that she was going to lose.

"Now that the shrimp is still, I can show my trump card." Kosuke spoke as he focused chakra into his hand. He moved to stand beside the cradle of rock that surrounded the nearly unconscious girl. She knew he was coming, faintly hearing his voice over the buzzing in her ears. Death was almost eminent, and she felt terrified. She had no idea what was going to happen, now that her dreams proved to be false or changed. Neither made sense to her. When she saw his hand, she struggled to keep her eyes open. She tried so hard to grind her teeth as tears welled up in her eyes. She didn't want to lose. She had come so far.

'I don't want to die!' She shouted in her thoughts weakly. She was reminded how helpless she was as her life left her. Maybe, it wasn't such a bad idea to sleep. . . She felt so tired. Suddenly, she felt _something_ claw its way up through her body to get out, and she was so weak that she couldn't stop it from its mission. The pain of those claws were nothing compared to the ache inside her head. It felt a migraine, but far worse.

Before she could analyze what was happening, she felt her eyes roll to the back of her head and gladly fell into the darkness, unknowingly allowing the thing clawing its way through her to take control. To took that opportunity with a demonic, sadistic grin.

Hyuga Neji couldn't breathe as Takami's chakra level slowly fell. There was nothing he could do as he watched Kosuke walk toward his friend embedded in the rock. Through his all-seeing eyes, he watched in horror as her chest no longer moved. His white eyes widened as a soft gasp left his throat, fearing the worst. He didn't notice that his teammates looked at him worriedly, hoping that he would say what he saw, but when he didn't, they immediately expected the worse. The proctor wouldn't be able to get there in time to stop Kosuke from delivering a final blow that would wipe Takami out and before Neji could stop himself, a yell erupted from his throat.

**"TAKAMI!"**

As if on cue, Kosuke yelled out as he was thrown back by a force so powerful that he was slammed into the wall, crying out as his bruised spine slammed into the concrete. Chakra whipped around the rock cradle, howling as the energy narrowed drastically over the middle of the hole. Neji's eyes widened in awe, being able to see this entirely through his eyes, even though he knew that the chakra could possibly have been seen through normal eyes. The howling of the energy was something that he had never heard of before, and it was intriguing. Then suddenly, as the chakra dissipated, nothing was heard and silence took over the battlefield. The Genins and Jonins held their breath in wonder of what was going to happen next.

Across the battlefield, the older Sand Siblings slightly shook in fear, remembering this aura from before the Chunin Exam. It was no question. That aura was from Rikiishi Takami. No one terrified them more than Gaara until _she _came along. What was _she_?

Everyone watched wide-eyed as a hand flew out of the cradle to grip the concrete beside her. Everyone couldn't breathe as they watched Takami slowly crawl out of the hole. Her body was covered in bruises, not surprisingly from her being slammed into the concrete. A shiver ran down Kakashi's spine as he took in the closed eyes and slouched shoulders of his student. What happened to her?

Slowly, as if it was the first time they opened, dark blue eyes took in the bright world around her. Naruto excitedly shouted throwing his arms out.

"Kick his butt, Takami!"

Naruto suddenly quieted when no one else was cheering and looked around to see everyone else either worried, questioning, or frozen.

"Hey, what's going on?" Naruto asked before he looked at his now awaken teammate. '_Oh_.' He thought getting caught by the icy gaze of his female teammate standing on the battlefield. The air felt so cold, making Naruto shiver heavily. Seeing the shiver from the male made the corners of Takami's lips lift into a predatory grin that made Naruto's heart beat rapidly as if he was the prey. Suddenly and without warning, his eyes closed unable to stand that gaze any longer as the feeling of falling took over him. Around him, he fell into a world so dark and so cold that he was sure he would never see the light of day again. He immediately wrapped his arms around himself, but even that couldn't warm him. His body shivered every second and white breath left his mouth as he panted as fear began to consume him. His eyes quickly looked around trying to find some kind of light unable to take the darkness any longer. He felt trapped. He quickly ran through the abyss as if his life was in danger. He shouted trying to find someone or something. Anything that showed him that he wasn't trapped, or just trapped alone. He panicked closing his eyes tightly trying to dispel himself from the world. He didn't know how he got here, but he wanted out now. He let out a deep shiver from the cold. It was like he was being encased by ice. Ice so cold that he knew that his attire wouldn't be able to save him and panicked at the thought that he was going to die in this dark abyss, alone and scared.

**"Naruto!"**

Naruto opened his eyes quickly, feeling himself being shaken. He panted and shook as if he was just awoken from a terrifying nightmare. He looked beside him to see Sakura leaning against the wall, eyes closed, seemingly unconscious.

"Naruto."

He looked in front of him again to see Kakashi leaning down before him.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked comfortingly.

"What happened to Sakura," Naruto asked worriedly looking at his unconscious crush.

"It was Takami." He heard Sasuke mumble. "Something is wrong with Takami."

Naruto looked at Takami and his jaw dropped in surprise. Something was _definitely_ wrong with Takami. Her face was easily more defined. Her body took in a more slouched position, but instead of leaning forward, she was leaning back looking at her shaking opponent with a tilted head, appearing bored. Her hair framed her face almost wildly. Other than her eyes, the aura that surrounded her almost paralyzed him. It weighed him down, and could tell that even Kakashi-sensei had to fight it from enveloping him as it did with Naruto and Sakura. He could tell that it affected Sasuke by the slight shaking of his body.

"It must be true." Guy mumbled staring wide-eyed in pure shock.

Takami, on the other hand, didn't feel fear. She felt so _alive_, awakened, and powerful. She felt amazing, as if she had just had the greatest drug. She felt power running through her veins like her very own version of ecstasy. She felt like the one in control of these continuing events and it made her shiver in delight at the thought. She felt pure pleasure as she thought of what she could do with this power. She felt like she could decimate cities and reduce them to ash, and the lowly humans against her wouldn't be able to do anything. She felt like a _god_. Her vision narrowed upon the opponent before her. Slowly, an evil, demonic grin overwhelmed Takami's face revealing the true change that enveloped her.

Around Naruto, the other Genin that were awake shook in fear, except for Neji who shook because of something else entirely.

"Takami," Ino whispered as tears welled up in her eyes. What had those girls done to her? What was this? Tears rolled down her face in sorrow and fear. She nearly slapped herself when yet another feeling came up inside her, _pity_. Suddenly, she was relieved that Sakura was unconscious. She had already watched Takami get beaten down; she didn't need to see this too.

Takami cackled lightly before shooting off toward her shaking prey, disappearing. Then the tables were turned and Kosuke was the one being beaten. Rock Lee shook wide-eyed as Takami kicked out Kosuke's knees making him yell out in pain as he dropped to the floor. Then Takami slowly circled him like a wolf before kicking him in the side, making him fly through the air as blood flew from his mouth from the power of her kick. He fell onto his back before rolling to his side, facing the demonic features that took over Takami's face as blood ran out of his mouth. He felt so numb. He almost screamed as he could see his death in those cold eyes. The watching Genin were suddenly afraid that she was going to kill him as blood lust crossed over her eyes.

"Takami!" Sasuke yelled out making everyone look at him in shock.

What is he doing?"

Takami's demonic icy eyes slowly looked at him. He shivered at the emptiness that took over her. Unlike him, a tear almost rolled down his face. He didn't want to see this. It made his heart ache. He didn't know what was wrong with her, but it didn't change anything. He couldn't fear her. He was afraid for **her**. He was terrified that **this** could kill her, whatever it was. He hadn't felt this kind of fear since _he _killed his family.

"Stop, Takami. You've won." Sasuke almost begged. He didn't care about his pride at that moment. He might later, but at that time, he had to stop her from doing this. This wasn't her. "Stop."

Instead of listening to him, Takami slowly turned away, walking slowly toward the lying Kosuke. Sasuke's eyes widened when he realized that he didn't reach her, and grew more fearful for her. If he couldn't reach her, who would?

"Have you ever heard the phrase . . .? " Takami's voice was even different. Taking on a deeper, almost mischievous tone. It was slow, methodical, and **evil**.

"Never play with your food." Takami finished tilting her head to the side as mischief danced with the evilness of her tone. With her eyes solely on his shaking form, she walked toward her sword and picked it up with light fingers. The moment her hand tightened around the pendent in the middle, she shot off.

**"Takami! STOP!"** A deep voice rang out over the battlefield sounding almost like the cleared eyed boy's from Rock Lee's team.

Naruto's eyes widened as the blade's tip stopped an inch away from Kosuke's nose. He was in awe that she stopped as he slowly moved his eyes to white knuckles and grinding teeth of Hyuga Neji, who was shaking from holding back his emotions and the urge to jump into the battlefield to stop Takami from the inevitable. Naruto couldn't stop the pity for Takami's opponent from surfacing as Kosuke's face paled and his shaking became more prominent, finally noticing the blade in his face.

The tables had indeed been turned, and it wasn't returning to Kosuke's advantage. Kosuke was locked into the predator's gaze. It was humiliating that he was in the position, but he couldn't find the courage in himself to buck against the predator that was before his eyes with a blade tip's inches away from his face. He was merely a child before this evil. Being within ten feet of this beast sucked every bit of courage he had and reduced it to nothing. He felt the black world around him collapse. He couldn't move nor speak. It was like everything was frozen, except for the demon in front of him. Even in this dark, cold world that he was locked in, she was in it tearing him apart, cackling the whole way as he screamed for release. For anything. Anything to get away. It was like something was taking over his body, something evil.

"Takami, stop. This isn't you."

Naruto heard someone beg and quickly looked to see that the Jonin were in the battleground, standing around the predator and the prey, careful not to get to close.

"He needs to be taught a _lesson_! You never _prey_ upon an innocent body! **You never prey upon the weak!**" Takami shouted in pure, uncontrollable rage. She couldn't hold back the disgust in her voice. Saliva flew from her mouth as she enunciated the words. No one has ever seen Takami like this, nor this opinioned. She was always so private.

"This isn't you, Takami. Don't do this to your friends. Don't make them watch this. You are better than this." Kakashi stepped forward holding his hands up in defense, not even bothering to grab a weapon. He knew that the real Takami was in there, buried deep by this evil that came out. Even with everything he has gone through, he knew the deep, demonic eyes that slowly moved to him would haunt him for the rest of his life. He had never seen anything so _evil_, not even in his years in the ANBU. He would rather see the deep blue eyes of the happy distant teen, not the eyes of the empty, cold predator that had taken over. And then without a bit of warning, Takami's foot shifted toward her own teacher.

"NO!" Sasuke yelled not able to keep his terror in any longer, almost throwing himself over the railing.

"Don't do it, Takami!" Neji roared not knowing how much more he would be able to hold himself back from jumping into the arena. At those words, Takami froze. Nothing moved for minutes until finally the good began to fight back.

The Jonin jumped back in surprise when Takami threw her sword away, grabbing her face. "**Stop stop stop**!" She struggled with herself. Naruto felt himself shake as he watched the display of good versus evil. She thrashed around as if she was being ripped apart from the inside. She felt like a monster was trying to claw its way back out after she beat it back, but she wouldn't let it. She **couldn't**. Her friends were watching this. She possibly put them through so much already, and she wasn't going to let this continue. She felt her eyes burn in her sockets as she fought with whatever had taken over her. She felt hot as her skin flared, but soon her body cooled as her face softened and her vision cleared. She struggled on her feet almost falling over before a beastly roar of anger rocked through her mind as the good side triumphed. She wasn't in a fog anymore. Her limbs felt weak as her muscles began to ache from getting beaten down. She felt like she could sleep for days, but right now wasn't a time to sleep. Naruto felt at ease as the demonic power thinned away, but he couldn't bring himself to run down to the battleground like Rock Lee's team, Ino's team, and Kiba's team had.

And suddenly like a tidal wave, she remembered what she had done. Whimpers escaped from her as tears of anguish flowed down her face, dripping onto the ground as they slipped through her shaking fingers. Not even the shouts of concern of her friends could quell her shaking and fear.

"Takami!"

'Stay away from me!' Takami tried to scream out, but her mouth wouldn't move. She didn't want anyone near her. She feared whatever had taken over her would come back. She didn't want to hurt anyone else. She didn't even have the courage to look at her opponent who she could imagine ran out screaming; she would have.

Kakashi raised a hand halting them immediately, looking at his shaking student, hearing whimpers escape from her almost like a wounded and frightened animal. "Takami." He spoke in warning to be careful, unable to shake off his shock.

Takami looked up, face red and terrified, and tears rolling down her cheeks. "Kakashi-sensei?" Suddenly without warning, she fell forward sobbing unable to keep her legs from giving out, making Kakashi race forward to wrap his arms around the shoulders of his terrified student, bringing the two of them to their knees. Takami gripped his vest in a tight grip, sobbing fearfully into his vest. He ran a hand through her hair, whispering that it was all right, making her shake her head in denial.

He looked at Guy's clear-eyed student trying to display his gratitude in his showing eye. Hyuga Neji had been able to reach the buried Takami. But why and how? Sasuke was a lot closer to her, being her teammate, and possible current love. However, he didn't.

"What is wrong with me?" Takami whimpered terrified, unable to look her teacher in the eyes. Seeing Takami so broken made tears well up in the eyes of the many Genin that were watching this. Takami looked so terrified, even more terrified then when Zaku had dislocated her shoulder. However, it was herself that she was afraid of.

"There is nothing wrong with you, Takami." Kakashi insisted trying to comfort the terrified girl.

**"I almost killed him!"** Takami roared, voice hoarse from her screaming during the match, throwing herself away from Kakashi, making him look up at her in sadness.

Takami shook as she stared at her hands in clear horror, "I almost _killed_ someone." She gripped her head with her hands whimpering as she fell to her knees in front of her teacher, who once more pulled her close to him. This time, however, he didn't say anything, and only let her cry the tears that she had.

"What is wrong with me?" Takami sobbed. Kakashi only tightened his grip.

She felt like her whole world was collapsing around her. Everything she knew felt false. This was never supposed to happen. She almost killed another human being. She remembered everything. The whole event was watched from inside; inside the body that almost killed Sato Kosuke. She felt disgusted and terrified of herself. Utterly terrified. She wanted to look at her team, but couldn't bring herself too. It hurt too much. She didn't know what they thought and almost didn't want to know because only one word suffocated her. That _one_ word was what she thought of herself, and she would never forgive herself.

"I'm a **monster**," Takami decided as another whimper escaped her as the word finally left her body. It scared her that it felt so right to say it about herself, and that feeling itself made her cry so hard and scream until her throat hurt. Tears soaked Kakashi's vest as fear consumed her.

She was a monster.


End file.
